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"Fearful
lest it be relegated to the position of an isolated sect, Christianity
seems to be making frenzied efforts at mimicry in order to escape being
devoured by its enemies--a reaction that seems defensive, but is in fact
self-destructive. In the hope of saving itself, it seems to be assuming
the colors of its environment, but the result is that it loses its
identity. . . ."
--Leszek Kolakowski, from Modernity on Endless Trial |
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THE RECORD Online Newspaper
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In This Issue: |
Monday July 25, 2005
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Masada of the Culture Wars
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One Hundred Years Ago Today
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American Optimism and
Determination Triumph Where All
Others Failed
Today marks the one-hundred year
anniversary of the start of what
was has been called the greatest
engineering feat in history. By
constructing a fifty mile long
channel across the Isthmus of
Panama, it was possible to
shorten the sea journey between
the East and West Coast of
America by seven thousand miles.
The building of the canal was a
Herculean task, and the French
company which first attempted it
failed, with twenty thousand of
their workers perishing from
yellow fever and other tropical
diseases.
The Americans, realizing the
moral and practical necessity of
controlling these diseases, sent
the eminent physician William
Gorgas, who made heroic efforts
at eliminating the sources of
disease by covering up standing
water and making history’s first
widespread use of
mosquito-controlling agents.
Thanks to Gorgas’s efforts,
deaths from yellow fever were
reduced enormously.
The building of the canal
required ten years and a labor
force of forty-thousand. Two
hundred and forty million cubic
yards of earth were removed. At
several times during the
construction of the canal, the
project was in jeopardy. Three
chief engineers were required,
the first two abandoning the
project. On one occasion the
entire canal commission was
disbanded and new members
appointed. From the outset, the
driving force behind the
building of the canal was
President Theodore Roosevelt,
who saw the strategic value of
the canal to the U.S. Navy.
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The men kneel before a
flickering lamp and say a prayer
their forefathers have said for
a thousand years. Their
children, having eaten their
last morsel of bread, press
their heads in their mothers'
arms and cry softly.
These men had fought under the
battle cry, "Mi kanoka ba'alim
Hashem," that is, "Who among the
rulers of the Earth is like You,
Oh Lord God of Israel?"
The citadel of Masada and the
fate of its defenders will
forever be a reminder of the
sacrifice that loyalty to truth
and higher principle requires.
Those who resisted the Roman
legions encamped around their
high mountain fortress knew well
the cost of submission and
defeat.
They had seen the Romans raze
their holy temple in Jerusalem,
carrying off the sacred vessels
of gold and silver, and they had
seen their sons and daughters
sold as slaves. For the
defenders of Masada, the choice
was to die rather than
surrender. And the result was
that Israel disappeared as a
nation, resurfacing only 2,000
years later.
We, too, are engaged in a
desperate struggle, a struggle
fought not with military weapons
but with simple truths, against
an enemy armed with an arsenal
of falsehood and deception. The
depth of this struggle is not
readily apparent, since the
consequences are still remote in
time.
Our struggle is the so-called
"culture wars," a fight to
determine whether or not society
will continue to be guided by
moral principles.
One after the other, however, we
have seen the pillars of the
family collapse. First came the
liberalization of the divorce
laws, then the "sexual
revolution."
Then came abortion, as surely as
night follows day. At the same
time, the strange doctrines of
liberalism took hold of every
facet of our society: our
schools, media, churches and
entertainment.
As liberalism tightened its grip
on these institutions, our
society became progressively
disordered - until we reached
the point where America is a
mere shadow of what it once was.
Only one institution eluded the
grasp of liberalism, and that
was marriage, the institution on
which the entire stability of
the society rested. Remove
marriage, and the Culture War
would be over.
Yet there is not a single
liberal in our state, including
columnist Jim Brunelle ("Gay
rights foes should darken the
lights on their people's veto
act," July 4), who will admit to
the simple and undeniable fact
that gay marriage is the Holy
Grail of the gay rights
movement.
They would have the public think
otherwise, even as they
encourage us to join the
bandwagon of nations who have
legalized gay marriage -
Belgium, Holland, Spain, and now
Canada.
In each of these places, liberal
elites smoothed over the
objections of the public by a
vigorous campaign for gay
rights. Their purpose was
achieved quietly and
incrementally, until the final
goal of gay marriage was sprung
on an unsuspecting public.
Gay activists have often said as
much, in their own words. Anyone
who would have us believe
otherwise is asking us to deny
our reason.
But in the final analysis,
reason and logic are of little
use to gay marriage backers.
They are desperate to keep the
focus on alleged discrimination,
while the broader social and
ethical implications go ignored.
What, for example, is the cost
to society of normalizing
various forms of aberrant sexual
behavior? Why should a
relationship based on immoral
and harmful sexual practices be
accorded the sanctity of
marriage?
Is it not true that gay marriage
has already opened the door to
polygamy? Are all aspects of the
homosexual subculture as
reputable and wholesome as an
episode of "Father Knows Best?"
Or are there aspects of it which
are so deviant they cannot be
mentioned here? If so, why
should such relationships be put
on a par with marriage?
Let us not portray as wholesome
and progressive what every bit
of evidence suggests is immoral
and harmful.
Above all, let us not portray as
a victory for society what may
well turn out to be the Masada
of the Culture Wars.
(Michael Heath)
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The Christian Civic League of
Maine
70 Sewall Street
Augusta, ME 04330
V-207-622-7634
F-207-621-0035
www.cclmaine.org
The RECORD is published every
weekday before 6 a.m. Forward
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them to sign up and stay
informed and praying about
current issues. Please email
your suggestions for articles to
mike@cclmaine.org.
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